Tim Dunkin
You keep the RINOs, I'll take the conservatives
By Tim Dunkin
You know, some folks just don't get it. Here we are heading into a campaign season where the people of this country are righteously angry. They're angry about all of the taxing, and spending, and debt, and illegal immigration, and incompetent response to the oil spill in the Gulf, and having socialized medicine rammed down our throats, etc. etc. ad nauseum. Large majorities of the American people have said, time and time again, that they don't want any of this, and they plan on throwing out the bums who have foisted all of this onto us. Obama and his policies are more unpopular now than at any previous time. Majorities now say they have no confidence in the President, and hope that the Republicans take back the Congress. The Tea Parties have coalesced into a legitimate, powerful political force in this country — all because of what the Democrats, and their RINO enablers in the GOP, have been doing. "Go along to get along" GOP incumbents have been falling before insurgent candidates energized by awakening conservative grassroots force. A majority of the people in this country clearly want conservatism — they want fewer taxes, they want the government to stop adding to our debt, they want more liberty. They don't want politicians who are going to try to maintain the status quo — from either Party.
Yet, old paradigms are hard to break.
Case in point, (soon to be former) Senator Bob Bennett, who late last week warned the GOP that "Tea Party mischief" was going to cost the Party big in November. Hunh?
But you see, Bennett belongs to the Republican Old Guard — that group of RINOs who think that the only way to even get a piece of the political pie is to hope that some scraps of it fall off the Democrats' table. Many of this type don't have any principles to begin with, and even the ones who do are too afraid of the consequences from the wine-and-cheese crowd to act on them. Therefore, to people who think like Bennett does, the idea of rocking the boat — of saying the things that need to be said, doing the things that need to be done, and especially of de-electing politicians who won't — is "scary."
The political class in Washington, the inside-the-beltway media types, and the cultural "elite" — these all view the kooks and wackos like you and me to be a "dangerous" force in American politics. We threaten to overturn the apple cart. We'd do horrible things like lower taxes, stop spending so much money we don't have, and close the borders. To the Beltway types who have been insulated from what real people think for so long, it makes perfect sense to assume that the narrative pushed by the mainstream media is true, that most people who count for anything really do want socialized medicine and an illegal immigrant in every landscaping crew. RINOs like Bennett, in turn, accept this paradigm and lend their support to the further socialization of the country by playing rearguard for the Democrats. They truly believe that resurgent Reagan conservatism is bad for the GOP — that it scares people away since what most people really want is liberalism — because they spend too much time listening to the other insiders over martinis, and not enough time paying attention to what their actual constituents back home are saying.
It is not surprising, then, that Bennett was among those purged in the great RINO hunt of 2010. He came in third at his own Party's nominating convention, a stinging rebuke to the sitting Senator, and of the two top vote getters, the one he endorsed (Tim Bridgewater) proceeded to fall before the Tea Party-backed insurgent Mike Lee in the ensuing primary. After such an embarrassing loss, no wonder Bennett is griping about Tea Party "mischief." I mean, hey, those dratted Tea Partiers cost him his job! Mischief-mongers!
Bennett's comments, as well as many others coming from RINOs like John McCain and Lindsey Graham, help to illustrate the real rift in the GOP. This rift is NOT between "establishment" and "insurgents." There are many long-time Republican politicians who are, in fact, right there with us as far as wanting to see the country preserved for liberty and free enterprise. Not every Republican elected official is a simpering RINO just waiting for the right opportunity to sell us down the river. Many of them do, in fact, want the same things that grassroots conservative activists in the Tea Parties and other groups want.
No, the divide is ideological — between RINOs and true-blue conservatives. It's between those who want to "reach across the aisle" to incrementally move toward socialism and those who want to toss tomatoes across the aisle to stop such a drift. On the one side, you have the beltway boys who are willing to sacrifice principle at the altar of elite opinion. On the other, the folks (elected or not yet) who think that principle is how you run a country.
We know which side Bob Bennett prefers, which is why he is lending his moral support to Harry Reid — Harry Reid — over and against a true conservative Tea Party-supported candidate like Sharon Angle. It's why he wants to talk down the chances of true conservatives in the Colorado and Kentucky Senate races. When push comes to shove, RINOs like Bennett would rather see leftist Democrats in the Senate than obstructionist conservative Republicans. Most of all, RINOs like Bennett would rather see other RINOs in office — that way they get to pip pip for the Party, while still pleasing the elite set in Washington.
I have bad news for the RINOs, however. Most people who are not RINOs are not much interested in electing Republicans just for the sake of electing Republicans. This is certainly the case with independent conservatives, and is (if the truth be told) largely the case among the conservative Republican base, as well. We're not going to vote for Dede Scozzafava anymore, just because you choose her as "our" candidate during your closed-door meetings.
Part of the new paradigm that is emerging since November 2008 is the unpopularity of the President, his Party, and his policies, with independent voters in America. If this poll means anything, the same unaffiliated voters who helped to hand the White House to Obama in 2008 because they were tired of eight years of Bush and the Republicans' lack of fiscal principle, have grown weary of the hope and change they purchased less than two years ago. Only 38% of independents now approve of how Obama's been doing his job. That means there are a whole lot of independents who dislike Obama's socialism, and who (in line with the results of numerous other issue-oriented polls) want a return to tried-and-true conservative principles. These are the people who are helping to give the GOP its current edge in generic congressional polling. Just imagine where the Republicans would be if they could get on the same page and present a well-grounded conservative platform of liberty, free enterprise, and traditional values to the American people?
Essentially, though, the ideological divide in the Party leads us to a choice we have to make. Especially for us conservatives who are also Republicans, and who are witnessing the power struggle between RINOs and conservatives within the Party first hand, we have to start making some choices. Who do we want the Party to appeal to? Which direction will the Republican Party take? Do we want the RINOs, or do we want the conservative-leaning independents who want smaller government and a freer country?
I'd like to tell Bob Bennett, "You keep the RINOs, I'll take the conservatives."
© Tim Dunkin
You know, some folks just don't get it. Here we are heading into a campaign season where the people of this country are righteously angry. They're angry about all of the taxing, and spending, and debt, and illegal immigration, and incompetent response to the oil spill in the Gulf, and having socialized medicine rammed down our throats, etc. etc. ad nauseum. Large majorities of the American people have said, time and time again, that they don't want any of this, and they plan on throwing out the bums who have foisted all of this onto us. Obama and his policies are more unpopular now than at any previous time. Majorities now say they have no confidence in the President, and hope that the Republicans take back the Congress. The Tea Parties have coalesced into a legitimate, powerful political force in this country — all because of what the Democrats, and their RINO enablers in the GOP, have been doing. "Go along to get along" GOP incumbents have been falling before insurgent candidates energized by awakening conservative grassroots force. A majority of the people in this country clearly want conservatism — they want fewer taxes, they want the government to stop adding to our debt, they want more liberty. They don't want politicians who are going to try to maintain the status quo — from either Party.
Yet, old paradigms are hard to break.
Case in point, (soon to be former) Senator Bob Bennett, who late last week warned the GOP that "Tea Party mischief" was going to cost the Party big in November. Hunh?
But you see, Bennett belongs to the Republican Old Guard — that group of RINOs who think that the only way to even get a piece of the political pie is to hope that some scraps of it fall off the Democrats' table. Many of this type don't have any principles to begin with, and even the ones who do are too afraid of the consequences from the wine-and-cheese crowd to act on them. Therefore, to people who think like Bennett does, the idea of rocking the boat — of saying the things that need to be said, doing the things that need to be done, and especially of de-electing politicians who won't — is "scary."
The political class in Washington, the inside-the-beltway media types, and the cultural "elite" — these all view the kooks and wackos like you and me to be a "dangerous" force in American politics. We threaten to overturn the apple cart. We'd do horrible things like lower taxes, stop spending so much money we don't have, and close the borders. To the Beltway types who have been insulated from what real people think for so long, it makes perfect sense to assume that the narrative pushed by the mainstream media is true, that most people who count for anything really do want socialized medicine and an illegal immigrant in every landscaping crew. RINOs like Bennett, in turn, accept this paradigm and lend their support to the further socialization of the country by playing rearguard for the Democrats. They truly believe that resurgent Reagan conservatism is bad for the GOP — that it scares people away since what most people really want is liberalism — because they spend too much time listening to the other insiders over martinis, and not enough time paying attention to what their actual constituents back home are saying.
It is not surprising, then, that Bennett was among those purged in the great RINO hunt of 2010. He came in third at his own Party's nominating convention, a stinging rebuke to the sitting Senator, and of the two top vote getters, the one he endorsed (Tim Bridgewater) proceeded to fall before the Tea Party-backed insurgent Mike Lee in the ensuing primary. After such an embarrassing loss, no wonder Bennett is griping about Tea Party "mischief." I mean, hey, those dratted Tea Partiers cost him his job! Mischief-mongers!
Bennett's comments, as well as many others coming from RINOs like John McCain and Lindsey Graham, help to illustrate the real rift in the GOP. This rift is NOT between "establishment" and "insurgents." There are many long-time Republican politicians who are, in fact, right there with us as far as wanting to see the country preserved for liberty and free enterprise. Not every Republican elected official is a simpering RINO just waiting for the right opportunity to sell us down the river. Many of them do, in fact, want the same things that grassroots conservative activists in the Tea Parties and other groups want.
No, the divide is ideological — between RINOs and true-blue conservatives. It's between those who want to "reach across the aisle" to incrementally move toward socialism and those who want to toss tomatoes across the aisle to stop such a drift. On the one side, you have the beltway boys who are willing to sacrifice principle at the altar of elite opinion. On the other, the folks (elected or not yet) who think that principle is how you run a country.
We know which side Bob Bennett prefers, which is why he is lending his moral support to Harry Reid — Harry Reid — over and against a true conservative Tea Party-supported candidate like Sharon Angle. It's why he wants to talk down the chances of true conservatives in the Colorado and Kentucky Senate races. When push comes to shove, RINOs like Bennett would rather see leftist Democrats in the Senate than obstructionist conservative Republicans. Most of all, RINOs like Bennett would rather see other RINOs in office — that way they get to pip pip for the Party, while still pleasing the elite set in Washington.
I have bad news for the RINOs, however. Most people who are not RINOs are not much interested in electing Republicans just for the sake of electing Republicans. This is certainly the case with independent conservatives, and is (if the truth be told) largely the case among the conservative Republican base, as well. We're not going to vote for Dede Scozzafava anymore, just because you choose her as "our" candidate during your closed-door meetings.
Part of the new paradigm that is emerging since November 2008 is the unpopularity of the President, his Party, and his policies, with independent voters in America. If this poll means anything, the same unaffiliated voters who helped to hand the White House to Obama in 2008 because they were tired of eight years of Bush and the Republicans' lack of fiscal principle, have grown weary of the hope and change they purchased less than two years ago. Only 38% of independents now approve of how Obama's been doing his job. That means there are a whole lot of independents who dislike Obama's socialism, and who (in line with the results of numerous other issue-oriented polls) want a return to tried-and-true conservative principles. These are the people who are helping to give the GOP its current edge in generic congressional polling. Just imagine where the Republicans would be if they could get on the same page and present a well-grounded conservative platform of liberty, free enterprise, and traditional values to the American people?
Essentially, though, the ideological divide in the Party leads us to a choice we have to make. Especially for us conservatives who are also Republicans, and who are witnessing the power struggle between RINOs and conservatives within the Party first hand, we have to start making some choices. Who do we want the Party to appeal to? Which direction will the Republican Party take? Do we want the RINOs, or do we want the conservative-leaning independents who want smaller government and a freer country?
I'd like to tell Bob Bennett, "You keep the RINOs, I'll take the conservatives."
© Tim Dunkin
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